I would spend a good week in Rio and travel to Salvador Bahia for 3-4 days and take in the big city life of Sao Paulo for 4-5 days..

This really depends on the focus of your trip...is it for touring, seeing, learning, exploring?? or more for get away tropical paradise for "relaxation" (meaning peace quiet beach life and passive exercise like swimming)...

I am married to a Brazilian and have been to the country at least 12 times, but only vistited Rio on our last trip there.Rio has to be visited, it is "on the list" of places to go, but it is not the be all and end all of Brazil by any means.Corcovada (statue of christ) and Sugar Loaf mountain are both spectacular (from the ground and the air by helicopter) and of course there are the famous beaches to go to.However, if you have the time and the finances, Foz Do Iguacu is a definite, as is Manaus in the Amazon to see the different colour rivers runnig side by side etc etc....Sao Paulo is manic but impressive, the earlier suggestion of Salvador Bahia is also a good one, and I would also recommend visiting Curitiba (south of Sao Paulo) for another vibrant city.Finally, Florianopolis is not the worst place on the planet to be either In simple terms, the country is vast and it would take you years to sample everything it has to offer....just try to grab as much as you can !!

When we say about Brazil, almost people thinks of the wonderful Amazon forest, fantastic beaches, great soccer..

The most places you should visit are: Fernando de Noronha Island, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The more relaxed city is Salvador or the old colonial towns: Ouro Preto and OlindaHow about beautiful nature? Try to visit Foz do Iguassu Falls, Manaus

There are some places that I like to recommend you. I think you take 12 days trip; its not enough for you to explore many beautiful places in Brazil.

However, dont miss to take a tour to Iguassu Falls, I sure that you will be surprised, attracted and excited with many falls. I took many photos from there. Its so wonderful.

I found Rio to be an exciting city with lots of things to see and do. The different neighbour hoods are great places to explore and I would say that 5 days would be the minimum time you would need to get a good experience of the city. I stayed for over 2 weeks when I was there for carnival but eh city was at its liveliest so there were so many exciting things to do. Salvador was also a great city. very cultural and I felt I was really getting to see the true Brazil. I would also recommend making a visit to the iguazu falls. Truly spectacular!

I think if you only have 5 days in Brazil I would chose one area and stick to it. The country is so big and if you plan to travel in the 5 days you will waste time. I would say go for Rio, 5 days is perfect.

Five days will definitely be necessary if you want to enjoy Rio. There are loads to see in South America and Brazil, but if you only have 12 days I suggest that you stick to two places, and not more. I can recommend amazing acommodation in Rio and Floripa! Me and my boyfriend stayed in a lovely apartment just by the beach, that we booked through www.oasiscollections.com. I would say five days in Rio, in one of those apartments! Will be perfect.